Description
Literary Nonfiction. Italian American Studies. "Through a fortunate concatenation of events, a collection of letters written by an Italian farmer of the time has recently become available, now archived at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio. Between 1910 and 1913 Antonio Vasquenz, a native of the Abruzzo village of Cerchio, wrote about forty letters totaling 25,000 words to his son Angelo, an immigrant working in the coal mines of western Pennsylvania. Unlike many contadini, Antonio was fully literate. He was also a talented writer and intelligent man. Over a four-year period he described in detail, with vivid and sometimes pungent prose, all the events and trials of his life: family illness and death, agricultural conditions, and always, always the financial burdens..."—from the Introduction
Author Bio
Constance Sancetta trained as geological oceanographer, and, after 25 years in research science (Columbia University, National Science Foundation), she retired and moved to Cleveland, Ohio. There, she became active in the local Italian-American community, including serving as president of the Italian American Cultural Foundation, a volunteer organization that was founded in 1972 to "promote the richness of the Italian culture and heritage and the Italian American experience" through scholarships to students in the arts and humanities for college and high school students of Italian descent. Her involvement in the Italian-American community also includes her role as secretary of the Cleveland Italian Ancestry Organization, a club for Italian genealogists, and volunteer for the Italian Archives collection at WRHS.
Author City: CLEVELAND, OH USA